Incident at Arbuk by John Gregory Betancourt

Incident at Arbuk Reviews

• 
  W

  There is a lot of Star Trek fiction out there,some good and a lot which is pretty indifferent.
  
  Star Trek Voyager was a fairly entertaining issue and I've enjoyed the Voyager books as well,which are generally more interesting than those based on the other Star Trek shows.
  
  In Incident at Arbuk,the ship is caught between a fleet of hostile alien ships and a deadly superweapon,a thousand times more powerful than the starship.
  
  A quick read and a pretty good one.Of course,Captain Janeway and her crew always come through,no matter what the odds.
  
• 
  Elizabeth Perez

  The Voyager crew gets a distress call and finds a new alien (possibly the most unique to date) and try to help. They find a new huge piece of technology but they have to figure out what it is.
  
  It's a pretty fun quick read and this book features two crew men Fairman and Dvorak which made the read a little more fun seeing things from their prospective. I did enjoy Fairman's character more, he had an interesting past which made him instantly likeable to me. I wish more of the book was about him.
  
  This book was pretty inclusive of all characters but Nelix has some great moments that really made me laugh out loud. I enjoyed his growth and thought process and most of all the head scratching moments of when he just doesn't get why humans are like they are.
  
  We also get to see Tuvok in a new light, and there is a very sweet moment between him and Janeway.
  
  Overall this was a great read, I certainly recommend it.
  
• 
  Craig

  This was a good Star Trek novel. It really felt like an episode of the series. At first I felt the author didn't do well with neelix's character. He came off as kings of an asshole, but got better as the novel went on. I wish I could here Tuvok call his crew makes leader janeway or friend doctor and so on. That was really funny.
• 
  Chris

  Quick and inoffensive. At a brisk 213 pages this book flies by. There were a lot of neat little things, but it certainly did not break any new ground. I would say it is enjoyable, but not a must read novel in the series.
• 
  Lila Diller

  This kept my attention from the first page. The mystery of who it was didn't get completely answered until chapter 18 of 21. The mind-meld between Tuvok and the alien Sozoas was fascinating.
  
  The bridge crew's internal characters were not very deep, but it was obviously written near the beginning of the series. I was disappointed in the subplot between Neelix and Paul Fairman. It seemed so petty and ended so uncharacteristically.
  
  Otherwise, it was an enjoyable read.
  
  Favorite quotes:
  “'I'm not going to risk murdering a patient by trying a random assortment of stimulants,' the doctor said. 'This isn't the twenty-first century, Captain.'” (p. 58)
  
  “Logic and order held sway. Emotions, he knew, were the enemy of logic, the little deaths that chipped away at the inner tranquility that all Vulcans strived to attain.” (p. 79)
• 
  Daniel Kukwa

  What an incredibly pleasant surprise. An early entry "Voyager" novel that does all of the following extremely well: (1) tell a concise, satisfying story that doesn't outstay its welcome, (2) creates an interesting alien race that that turns out the be friendly, without overloading on the details, (3) captures the crew of mid-season 1 without a misstep, and (4) hits a home run by providing Neelix and Tuvok with interesting character-building opportunities. If only most genre novels were this entertaining.
• 
  Benjamin Hall

  This book felt like a "filler" episode of Voyager, but a decent one. Nothing major happened, but it was a fast, fun read that could have easily have been part of the TV series. The characters felt right at home and accurate to how we have come to know them, and the writing was crisp, detailed, and enjoyable. The side story with Neelix was excellent, and the alien race they encountered unique and unusual, but fleshed out enough to be a believable species they might have come across. The biggest downfall was that there wasn't much of a "climax" to the story.
• 
  Angela

  Voyager finds an unusual weapon, and gets caught up with local politics. Set quite early on, the characters are still trying to find out about each other. It's not a bad read, there's many action sequences that will appeal to some. A good read.
• 
  F. William Davis

  Short and sweet! This punchy little story was fast paced and still managed to include great character moments, fun new aliens, action, suspense and a considerably successful adventure for the crew.
• 
  Jess

  I'm really torn on this. My usual standard on tie-in books is 'what this make a good episode of the show?' to which I'd say: not really but it would be better than MOST episodes of Voyager. So many of the characters seem right here. Neelix in particularly. There are a lot of interesting things going on here as well.
  
  My problem is that the main plot. The whole Sperian thing that is supposed to be our main story seemed a little by the numbers Star Trek and it was very hard if not impossible to become invested in it. Especially given how much I generally dislike Voyager AND this was a few years prior to the books being allowed to reference each other so every story had to get wrapped up in a cute little bow at the end.
  
  But the subplots? Tom Paris and the hot Ensign of the Week? (This was a story set in late season one or early season two so it made total sense.) The stuff with Neelix and Ensign Fairman. The stuff with Tuvok and the Sperian. Those were funny and worked and FAR more interesting that aliens and Voyager fighting over the McGuffin stuff.
• 
  Steven

  Writing in an expanded universe has to be a joyless enterprise. For one thing, you never know when what is considered canon is going to snipe you at the knees; for another, there are times when your story just can't really go anywhere and just feels like treading water.
  
  This is Incident at Arbuk to a T. Add into that some weird inconsistencies (Tuvok being called the first officer, for one) and my personal favorite, the opening stardate. Now, I get that stardates are arbitrary and don't really have anything to do with anything, but at least Voyager's stardates tended to progress in a forward motion. This novel's stardate however, is way before any of the others in this series.
  
  As to the actual plot, while not terrible, Betancourt spends a lot of time talking about two characters who aren't in the main series, and will never be seen again. A new batch of aliens is shown - who will also never be seen again - and the ship makes no real progress in moving forward, although it does work on getting resupplied.
• 
  Craig

  I'm still not entirely sure what the issue was in this book. Things happened, they looked into them, they solved the problems and even made a friend - it was just a straight-forward story. I think the climax was an argument that happened in another language in the background. I don't hate this book. I actually enjoyed the B-Story with Neelix (which is saying a lot!), when Chakotay was in command (which I always enjoy) and the effects of drugs on a mind meld. There was some interesting things in this book - just kind of lacking a story.
  
  Also spoiler question - What was the deal with the Paris/Dvorak minor story? He was attracted to her, thought about her and then went to ask her out and Kim already had - that was it. I don't get it.
• 
  Jason Vargo

  Serviceable may be the best word for this story. A distress call, some new aliens, a little action and a tidy ending. That wraps up Voyager in a nutshell.
  
  But here's the thing about early novels from any of the Trek shows: they feel stilted and grasping for a story. There is nothing unique about this story to make it a Voyager tale. This same story, sans the Neelix subplot, could have been done with any other series and worked. That's frustrating.
  
  Offensive? Nope. Engaging? Not really...I had a hard time working up enthusiasm for the story. Does it provide anything new? Not really, sadly.
• 
  Amy Tudor

  Short but a great Star Trek story. Nice to encounter an alien species that can’t simply be talked to thanks to the universal translator. The Neelix b-story is good fun, would’ve enjoyed more about this with some fun repercussions among the crew. Overall a good story for Tuvok and Neelix, great descriptive imagery and the characters are accurate and likeable versions of themselves.
• 
  Joe Sullivan

  A more action-oriented story, one that likely couldn't have been done as a TV episode as it would probably be over the show's budget.
  With the characters behaving the way you'd expect (a fault of many early-number books being that they don't), this book ends up being a good example of how a book can complement and expand on the series.
• 
  Jarrod

  Short Tale of the Voyager Crew. Neelix takes down a black market replicator.
• 
  Janine

  Loved this story, but, Neelix was needed more.
• 
  David

  An excellent Voyager novel.
• 
  Shane Amazon

  Overall a good read. Enjoyed the story the stage that it was set on. The author did a good job with the early VOY franchise characters, and did a good job giving us a moral Trek tale that sticks to the Voyager feel. Could have been a bit more impactful in the plot and new characters introduced, but overall the book is a fun read and enjoyable tale.
• 
  Erica

  This novel is one of my favorites from the early Voyager novels. There's an intriguing mystery for the crew to solve. After having picked up a distress signal from a very strange looking alien they travel to the Arbuk system. I felt kind of in awe of the whole situation. The alien are the only survivor of a major disaster involving what seems to be some kind of a doomsday weapon that obliterated a space city with nearly 13,000 inhabitants...
  
  While solving this mystery there's not only the expected questions of what really happened and why as we start to understand more and more. There's also a lot of humor which was something that the author did a really good job with. It was the perfect mix.
  
  

  He drained his second glass of juice and handed it back to Friend Tom again. "Thank you," he said. Then he bowed to all of them. "If you will excuse me," he went on, "I have to make my report to Leader Janeway."
  ... "Leader Janeway-?" he heard Friend Tom say just as the doors to sickbay whisked close behind him.

  
  The mind meld between Tuvok and the alien stands for a lot of that. Not only is the alien among the most weird looking creatures I can ever remember having been described to me, but he's also different in a way that makes the mind meld turn out a little bit different from what we're used to with the Vulcans. Both Tuvok and the alien suffer from some after effects of this, so be prepared to smile at the silliness of it all. :)
  
  I also really liked to get to know a new character, Paul Fairman, that was one of the Maquis crewmen originally. He has plans of his own and manages to get Neelix, always eager to please, dragged into it.
  
  The idea of an author coming up with his or her own character and add that character to the crew can be really good if it's done right. It can be interesting to get to know someone new and see how they fit in on Voyager and how they interact with the crew. If you like this sort of thing another one of the earlier novels where this is done is
  Cybersong.
• 
  Nicole

  This book read like a good Voyager episode makes me feel - There's an interesting main plot with a second plot neatly twisted around the first, there's plenty of humour and funny moments, Voyager helps save the day and the story ends on a happy and hopeful note.
  
  Harry picks up a distress call from an alien vessel; Voyager goes to investigate. Faced with several strange and imposing structures once they reach the system the distress call was sent from, Voyager almost gets roasted before neutralising three attacking vessels and investigating some very interesting alien tech. After spectacularly establishing contact with the locals, we learn that Voyager is caught in a web of politics, arguments and opposing factions. In the end, Voyager proves to be a Friend and some very interesting bargains are struck.
  
  The alien who sent the distress call fascinates me and the unique look into his mind and what happened after was a very interesting trip down a Trek-themed rabbit hole. Also: This book made me hungry, not just once but several times. And rather annoyed that I didn't have enough milk in the house to make hot chocolate. There's also an image of a green-eyed professor that somehow seems stuck in my mind. Mr. Betancourt's descriptive power makes the book truly come to life and made this story a very enjoyable and memorable read.
  
• 
  Soph

  reread nov 2020: The first one of these numbered novels where the characters properly feel like the characters which instantly makes it more enjoyable than the others. Some good Tuvok stuff, took some time to introduce and flesh out a Maquis side character in a way in which the show didn't do often enough. Some of the people on Voyager would not have meshed well on that ship and they wouldn't have really wanted to.
  I had some problems with that arc though: The Maquis getting transported to Voyager happened fast, some guy could not have smuggled a transporter onboard without everyone else knowing. And Neelix stealing it at the end and trading it in a massive violation of starfleet protocol about sharing tech? I know Fairman probably wouldn't have cared. Neelix isn't Starfleet and doesn't know the rules that well, but that's a big one and it's all treated with a *shrug* and "no big deal".
• 
  Nathan

  
  This was one of the better Star Trek novels I've read. The aliens were interesting and had distinct culture and personality traits, the conflict was mysterious, Janeway kicked ass, etc. I could go on and on. I was worried about half way through because it seemed like the story had a long way to go in just half a book, but everything was wrapped up quite nicely in the end. In fact, I was very tempted to give this 5 stars: it was that good. The reason I didn't is that the author kept saying 'the Voyager' instead of just 'Voyager'. It may not seem like a big deal (and admittedly, I probably shouldn't be this worked up about it), but it's one of my biggest pet peeves when reading Voyager novels. Other than that issue I had, this was a really well done book. I'm very glad I found it so I can continue with the series!
• 
  Sharon

  Incident at Arbuck takes place in the very early months of Voyager's journey home.
  
  Answering a distress call Voyager comes in contact with a strange argumentative race known as the Sperians. They have created a super weapon that contains a fatal flaw. Tuvok does a mind meld, B'Elanna works her mechanical wonders,Tom flirts and Kim gets a date. Neelix gets to use his wiles to outsmart a black marketeer. It's a pretty standard early Voyager adventure and fairly well written for a first novel. Its also a quick read, perfect for reading on a plane or in a waiting room. Nice escapism.
• 
  Tracy Poff

  (I've not got my notes on hand, so this will less detailed than usual.)
  
  Not bad. The 'mind meld gone wrong' storyline isn't much better than a 'transporter accident' storyline, in my opinion, but it's not too bad. As I recall, the alien race in this one was reasonably interesting.